Faculty by Research Specialization
The Department of History at UC Santa Cruz is known for its innovative research and exemplary scholarship. Our faculty work at the cutting edge of their respective fields, covering a wide variety of geographic, temporal, and thematic fields of study. The areas of specialization listed here are by no means an exhaustive list of our scholastic interests. Rather, they highlight the diverse and often overlapping ideas and approaches we explore within our teaching and research.
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Ancient and Medieval Worlds
Nathaniel Deutsch
- Title
- Director of the Center for Jewish Studies
- Professor and Baumgarten Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, African American / Black Studies, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ethnography
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish history; Hasidism; African American Islam; history of eugenics in the United States
Charles W Hedrick Jr.
- Title
- Professor Emeritus
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Ancient World / Classics, Democracy, Classical Studies, Classics, History
Elaine A. Sullivan
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Egyptology; Archaeology; Digital Humanities; Virtual Reality, Immersive, and Augmented Reality Environments; Ancient World / Classics; History
Borderlands and Transnationalism
Noriko Aso
- Title
- East Asian Studies Program Director
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Asian Studies, Pacific Rim, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Youth Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Japanese history, cultural and intellectual
David Brundage
- Title
- Professor Emeritus
- Research Professor of History
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Immigration, Class, Colonialism, Discrimination and Inequality, History, Labor and Social Movements, US History
Shelly Chan
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise China, Globalization, World History, Cultural Studies, Asian Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern and contemporary China through transnational, diasporic, and oceanic approaches
Alan S Christy
- Title
- Cowell Provost
- Professor
- Co-Director, Okinawa Memories Initiative
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Asian Studies, Digital Humanities
Grace Peña Delgado
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Border Studies, Ethnicity, Chicana/o Studies, Nationalism, Immigration, Latin American and Latino Studies, Sexuality, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Mexico
- Summary of Expertise
North American Borderlands (Canada-U.S.-Mexico)
Immigration--Mexican, Asian
Gender and Sexuality
Race and Nationalism
Chinese in Mexico
Alma Rachel Heckman
- Title
- Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Middle East Studies, Mediterranean Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish History
Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East
Edward H. Kehler
- Title
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, German Studies, Communism, European Politics, European Studies, Fascism, Film, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Nationalism, Post Communist Politics
Aims McGuinness
- Title
- Provost, Merrill College
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History
- Summary of Expertise
Latin America, Panamá, U.S. empire, race, labor, California Gold Rush, socialism, Cold War, transnational/global history/world history.
Gregory E. O′Malley
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, History, Race, African American / Black Studies, World History, Digital Humanities, US History
Bruce A Thompson
- Title
- Jewish Studies Academic Advising Coordinator
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise California History, Climate Change, Environmental History, European Studies, Film, History, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, War
- Summary of Expertise
European history, Jewish history and literature.
Alice S. Yang
- Title
- Chair, History Department
- Associate Professor of History
- Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Comparative Politics, California History, Colonialism, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies, Labor and Social Read more ...
- Summary of Expertise
Historical Memory, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender, 20th Century US History, Pacific War History, Oral History, Redress, and Reparations
Read more ...
Colonialism and Empire
Noriko Aso
- Title
- East Asian Studies Program Director
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Asian Studies, Pacific Rim, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Youth Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Japanese history, cultural and intellectual
Benjamin Breen
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History of Science, Colonialism, Digital Humanities, Drug Policy, World History
- Summary of Expertise
I am an associate professor of history at UC Santa Cruz interested in the history of globalization, science, drugs, and the long-term impacts of technological change. My Read more ...
David Brundage
- Title
- Professor Emeritus
- Research Professor of History
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Immigration, Class, Colonialism, Discrimination and Inequality, History, Labor and Social Movements, US History
Shelly Chan
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise China, Globalization, World History, Cultural Studies, Asian Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern and contemporary China through transnational, diasporic, and oceanic approaches
Alan S Christy
- Title
- Cowell Provost
- Professor
- Co-Director, Okinawa Memories Initiative
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Asian Studies, Digital Humanities
Muriam Haleh Davis
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise North Africa, Middle East Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Capitalism, European Studies
Jennifer L. Derr
- Title
- Associate Professor; Founding Director, Center for the Middle East and North Africa at UC Santa Cruz
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Disease and Immunity, Science Studies, Environmental Studies, Biomedical Sciences, Capitalism, Colonialism, History, Water
María Elena Díaz
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, Latin American and Latino Studies, History, Race, Law and Policy, Personal and Social Identities, Spanish
- Summary of Expertise
Colonial Latin America and Caribbean history
Kathleen Cruz Gutierrez
- Title
- Assistant Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise The Philippines, Southeast Asian Studies, History of Science, Colonialism, Science Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Philippine history, science and technology studies, Southeast Asian studies, history of plant sciences
Alma Rachel Heckman
- Title
- Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Middle East Studies, Mediterranean Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish History
Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East
Edward H. Kehler
- Title
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, German Studies, Communism, European Politics, European Studies, Fascism, Film, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Nationalism, Post Communist Politics
Amy Lonetree
- Title
- Professor
- Summary of Expertise
Indigenous History, Museum Studies, Commemoration and Public Memory, Native American Cultural Production, Public History, and Ho-Chunk Tribal History
Marc Matera
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, European Studies, Africa and African Studies, African Diaspora, Colonialism, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Urban studies
Aims McGuinness
- Title
- Provost, Merrill College
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History
- Summary of Expertise
Latin America, Panamá, U.S. empire, race, labor, California Gold Rush, socialism, Cold War, transnational/global history/world history.
Matt O′Hara
- Title
- Provost, Stevenson College
- Professor
Gregory E. O′Malley
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, History, Race, African American / Black Studies, World History, Digital Humanities, US History
Eric Porter
- Title
- History Graduate Program Director
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise African American / Black Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Jazz, American Studies, California History, Improvisation, Urban studies, Cultural Studies
Juned M. Shaikh
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise India and Indian Studies, Marxism, World History, Colonialism, Labor and Social Movements, Urban studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern South Asia, Urban, Labor, Caste, Dalit Studies, Marxism, and Intellectual History.
Marilyn J Westerkamp
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Gender Studies, Religion and Secularism, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Women's Studies
Alice S. Yang
- Title
- Chair, History Department
- Associate Professor of History
- Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Comparative Politics, California History, Colonialism, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies, Labor and Social Read more ...
- Summary of Expertise
Historical Memory, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender, 20th Century US History, Pacific War History, Oral History, Redress, and Reparations
Read more ...
Critical Race and Indigeneity
Muriam Haleh Davis
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise North Africa, Middle East Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Capitalism, European Studies
Grace Peña Delgado
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Border Studies, Ethnicity, Chicana/o Studies, Nationalism, Immigration, Latin American and Latino Studies, Sexuality, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Mexico
- Summary of Expertise
North American Borderlands (Canada-U.S.-Mexico)
Immigration--Mexican, Asian
Gender and Sexuality
Race and Nationalism
Chinese in Mexico
Nathaniel Deutsch
- Title
- Director of the Center for Jewish Studies
- Professor and Baumgarten Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, African American / Black Studies, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ethnography
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish history; Hasidism; African American Islam; history of eugenics in the United States
María Elena Díaz
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, Latin American and Latino Studies, History, Race, Law and Policy, Personal and Social Identities, Spanish
- Summary of Expertise
Colonial Latin America and Caribbean history
Alma Rachel Heckman
- Title
- Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Middle East Studies, Mediterranean Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish History
Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East
Catherine A Jones
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Civil War, Gender Studies, Race, Youth Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Slavery and Emancipation
Civil War Era
History of Children and Childhood
American South
Amy Lonetree
- Title
- Professor
- Summary of Expertise
Indigenous History, Museum Studies, Commemoration and Public Memory, Native American Cultural Production, Public History, and Ho-Chunk Tribal History
Marc Matera
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, European Studies, Africa and African Studies, African Diaspora, Colonialism, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Urban studies
Aims McGuinness
- Title
- Provost, Merrill College
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History
- Summary of Expertise
Latin America, Panamá, U.S. empire, race, labor, California Gold Rush, socialism, Cold War, transnational/global history/world history.
Gregory E. O′Malley
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, History, Race, African American / Black Studies, World History, Digital Humanities, US History
Eric Porter
- Title
- History Graduate Program Director
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise African American / Black Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Jazz, American Studies, California History, Improvisation, Urban studies, Cultural Studies
Alice S. Yang
- Title
- Chair, History Department
- Associate Professor of History
- Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Comparative Politics, California History, Colonialism, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies, Labor and Social Read more ...
- Summary of Expertise
Historical Memory, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender, 20th Century US History, Pacific War History, Oral History, Redress, and Reparations
Read more ...
Early Modern World
Benjamin Breen
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History of Science, Colonialism, Digital Humanities, Drug Policy, World History
- Summary of Expertise
I am an associate professor of history at UC Santa Cruz interested in the history of globalization, science, drugs, and the long-term impacts of technological change. My Read more ...
Alan S Christy
- Title
- Cowell Provost
- Professor
- Co-Director, Okinawa Memories Initiative
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Asian Studies, Digital Humanities
Nathaniel Deutsch
- Title
- Director of the Center for Jewish Studies
- Professor and Baumgarten Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, African American / Black Studies, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ethnography
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish history; Hasidism; African American Islam; history of eugenics in the United States
Minghui Hu
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Asian Studies, China, Communism, History of Science, Chinese, History of Philosophy, Pacific Rim, Taiwan, Science Studies
Edward H. Kehler
- Title
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, German Studies, Communism, European Politics, European Studies, Fascism, Film, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Nationalism, Post Communist Politics
Matt O′Hara
- Title
- Provost, Stevenson College
- Professor
Gregory E. O′Malley
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Slavery, African Diaspora, Atlantic World, History, Race, African American / Black Studies, World History, Digital Humanities, US History
Marilyn J Westerkamp
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Gender Studies, Religion and Secularism, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Women's Studies
Gender and Sexuality
Noriko Aso
- Title
- East Asian Studies Program Director
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Asian Studies, Pacific Rim, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Youth Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Japanese history, cultural and intellectual
Shelly Chan
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise China, Globalization, World History, Cultural Studies, Asian Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern and contemporary China through transnational, diasporic, and oceanic approaches
Grace Peña Delgado
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Border Studies, Ethnicity, Chicana/o Studies, Nationalism, Immigration, Latin American and Latino Studies, Sexuality, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Mexico
- Summary of Expertise
North American Borderlands (Canada-U.S.-Mexico)
Immigration--Mexican, Asian
Gender and Sexuality
Race and Nationalism
Chinese in Mexico
Catherine A Jones
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Civil War, Gender Studies, Race, Youth Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Slavery and Emancipation
Civil War Era
History of Children and Childhood
American South
Marc Matera
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, European Studies, Africa and African Studies, African Diaspora, Colonialism, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Urban studies
Marilyn J Westerkamp
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Gender Studies, Religion and Secularism, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Women's Studies
Alice S. Yang
- Title
- Chair, History Department
- Associate Professor of History
- Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Comparative Politics, California History, Colonialism, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies, Labor and Social Read more ...
- Summary of Expertise
Historical Memory, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender, 20th Century US History, Pacific War History, Oral History, Redress, and Reparations
Read more ...
Labor and Social Movements
David Brundage
- Title
- Professor Emeritus
- Research Professor of History
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Immigration, Class, Colonialism, Discrimination and Inequality, History, Labor and Social Movements, US History
Shelly Chan
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise China, Globalization, World History, Cultural Studies, Asian Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern and contemporary China through transnational, diasporic, and oceanic approaches
Alma Rachel Heckman
- Title
- Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Middle East Studies, Mediterranean Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish History
Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East
Marc Matera
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, European Studies, Africa and African Studies, African Diaspora, Colonialism, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Urban studies
Aims McGuinness
- Title
- Provost, Merrill College
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History
- Summary of Expertise
Latin America, Panamá, U.S. empire, race, labor, California Gold Rush, socialism, Cold War, transnational/global history/world history.
Eric Porter
- Title
- History Graduate Program Director
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise African American / Black Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Jazz, American Studies, California History, Improvisation, Urban studies, Cultural Studies
Juned M. Shaikh
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise India and Indian Studies, Marxism, World History, Colonialism, Labor and Social Movements, Urban studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern South Asia, Urban, Labor, Caste, Dalit Studies, Marxism, and Intellectual History.
Alice S. Yang
- Title
- Chair, History Department
- Associate Professor of History
- Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Comparative Politics, California History, Colonialism, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies, Labor and Social Read more ...
- Summary of Expertise
Historical Memory, Asian American Pacific Islander History, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender, 20th Century US History, Pacific War History, Oral History, Redress, and Reparations
Read more ...
Religion and Secularism
Nathaniel Deutsch
- Title
- Director of the Center for Jewish Studies
- Professor and Baumgarten Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, African American / Black Studies, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ethnography
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish history; Hasidism; African American Islam; history of eugenics in the United States
Alma Rachel Heckman
- Title
- Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Jewish Studies and Judaism, Middle East Studies, Mediterranean Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Modern Jewish History
Modern History of North Africa and the Middle East
Matt O′Hara
- Title
- Provost, Stevenson College
- Professor
Bruce A Thompson
- Title
- Jewish Studies Academic Advising Coordinator
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise California History, Climate Change, Environmental History, European Studies, Film, History, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, War
- Summary of Expertise
European history, Jewish history and literature.
Marilyn J Westerkamp
- Title
- Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Colonialism, Gender Studies, Religion and Secularism, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Women's Studies
Science, Technology, and Environment
Benjamin Breen
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History of Science, Colonialism, Digital Humanities, Drug Policy, World History
- Summary of Expertise
I am an associate professor of history at UC Santa Cruz interested in the history of globalization, science, drugs, and the long-term impacts of technological change. My Read more ...
Muriam Haleh Davis
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise North Africa, Middle East Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Capitalism, European Studies
Jennifer L. Derr
- Title
- Associate Professor; Founding Director, Center for the Middle East and North Africa at UC Santa Cruz
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Disease and Immunity, Science Studies, Environmental Studies, Biomedical Sciences, Capitalism, Colonialism, History, Water
Kathleen Cruz Gutierrez
- Title
- Assistant Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise The Philippines, Southeast Asian Studies, History of Science, Colonialism, Science Studies
- Summary of Expertise
Philippine history, science and technology studies, Southeast Asian studies, history of plant sciences
Minghui Hu
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Faculty Areas of Expertise History, Asian Studies, China, Communism, History of Science, Chinese, History of Philosophy, Pacific Rim, Taiwan, Science Studies
Bruce A Thompson
- Title
- Jewish Studies Academic Advising Coordinator
- Continuing Lecturer
- Faculty Areas of Expertise California History, Climate Change, Environmental History, European Studies, Film, History, Jewish Studies and Judaism, Religion and Secularism, War
- Summary of Expertise
European history, Jewish history and literature.